And Then She Was Gone

Mr. Sensitive

"I'd like that." Elizabeth answered quickly with a nod before Jason could respond, a hidden annoyance brewing as he was about to decline the request. He gave a slow nod in acceptance before pressing a kiss to her forehead and gesturing a hand for her to go to the other end of the table before turning his attention to men who would be handling the meeting.

"Here let me get that for you Elizabeth." Alex said pulling out her chair and pushing it in as she took her seat.

"Thank you, you're too kind." She said with a gentle smile.

"Not at all. It's not often one sees such an fiercely impressive female." He said with a nod and a charming smile that showed a twinkle of warmth in his green eyes. "Mr. Stone is a very lucky man." He said taking his own seat now across from her.

"I think he may disagree, I tend to cause him some grief from time to time." She said, being very careful with her words and ensuring she maintained an appropriate conversational tone and verbiage for the atmosphere.

"Well, no good woman comes without a challenge." Norma said with a nod. "Men have to earn the right to be with us fair creatures."

"That is correct. I'm sure all the challenges he faces are greatly outweighed by the reward." Bryan added with another nod. "So, how did you two meet and fall in love, much to the dismay of the rest of the male populous?"

"Well, if you must know..." she leaned in to the table with a mischievous glint in her eyes as if she was about to tell a secret in a hushed tone. "He kidnapped me." Mark choked on his drink at her words as he tried to hold back an abrupt laugh showing he heard her. This meaning, so did Jason, who seemed to be intently focusing on the older men, as the two men surrounding Elizabeth laughed in unison with Norma. "It's true." She raised her eyebrows with a coy smile on her face showing she was speaking in jest.

"So if I wanted a beauty like you, all I would have to do is kidnap her?" Alex said with another laugh.

"Well... some heavy duty drugs helps the cause." She said with a light shrug causing them all to laugh again. Mark giving her a side eye glance of disbelief as she had them all laughing at her jokes.

"Noted. Kidnapping and drugs. I think I'll try that on my next date." Bryan said with a nod and a chuckle.

"It's the perfect mix for a well developed case of Stockholm syndrome." She said with a nod and a grin as the waiter walked around pouring them all a glass of the red blend for the table.

"You're very charming, I must say, Elizabeth. Usually someone of your standards has an stuffy air about them, of which I cannot detect from you." Alex said with a small smile as he began to take in more of her face, finding her entirely attractive.

"Yes, very charming, indeed. Do you have a career or
does the brute keep you locked in an ivory tower?" Bryan said with a smirk, playing along with her fun illusion.

"He used to. I still have flashbacks when I hear the jingling of keys." She said giving a laugh to which they all followed in suite with how quick witted she seemed to be.

"Oh, you poor thing." Alex played along in mock sympathy.

"Oh, don't be sorry for me. I'm now allowed five minutes of fresh air and sunlight per day. The situation has much improved." She said with a playful hand wave as if it was all a thing of the past.

"So that's how you keep a fair complexion. I like his method." Alex said with a nod and a smirk as he began to drink some of the wine placed in front of him.